Climate change is a major trigger of human security concerns in Africa. Given the weak infrastructural buffers that can help adapt the reality of the menace, coastal communities around the continent continue to be areas of major concern. This paper looks at the impact of climate change on human rights in coastal communities in Lagos State, Nigeria. It adopts the qualitative method of data gathering and analysis to elicit the true situation of human security challenges in those communities. Makoko and Ilaje in Lagos Mainland and Shomolu Local Government Areas respectively were chosen as study location. The theoretical framework for the paper is the feminist political ecology. The theory asserts the place of the woman in environmental issues. It notes that climate change problems such as coastal flooding and erosion affect women and children in more devastating ways. This is because of the poor social and economic configurations of the society that relegate the women-fold to the background. The incidence of coastal flooding and erosion means that women many of who are their families’ breadwinners have the means of livelihood which revolves around the coastal economy destroyed. This situation constitutes serious human rights abuse to women in these areas as they are unable to make ends meet for their already disadvantaged households. This situation runs contrary to African human rights posture which gives a pride of place to women and children in terms of social and economic positions and to hold their own in awkward times like environmental crisis. The paper suggests that government and other stakeholders empower coastal women through creative overtures to relocate to safer environments where they can pursue their livelihoods devoid of human security crisis.

The protestant reformation gave birth, to a plethora of Christian movements of which voluminous amounts emerged as organisations which possessed their pious heritage retained within the reformers teachings. The study examined the modes of communiqué utilised by the Salvation Army to provide for the exhaustive wellbeing of mankind and in addition, to establish the communication techniques employed by the Salvation Army from the time of inception up until the establishment as an organisation. The aim of the paper was to expound the heterogeneous forms of communication utilised by the Salvation Army so as to accommodate for the spiritual and physical wellbeing of humankind. Klopper’s Theory of Optimisation of Human Communication (TOHC), the theoretical framework for this study. Various forms of communication will be used within cultures to ensure survival and to maintain one’s culture. This paper was a desktop research paper. Klopper’s (TOHC) was validated throughout this study in reference to the establishment of the above mentioned Christian religious groups. Maslow’s Theory based on the Hierarchy of Needs (1954), affirms that there is progression from the fulfilment of physical needs, safety needs, social needs to the fulfilment of self-actualisation needs in the life of an individual and ultimately going to a level known as self-transcendence. Religion plays a significant role at the levels of safety, socialisation and self-actualisation, and self-transcendence. The author elicited how basic modes of communication were utilised in the movement stage and how these forms of communication were broadened when the above mention Christian religious groups became an organisation. Since the inception of the organisation their focus remained on the spiritual and physical wellbeing of society. The author compared statistics of the Salvation Army between 2003 and 2015. The paper output the need for Christian communication to be incorporated as a field of study within the Communication’s Department of Higher Education institutions.

This paper analyses the psycho-social effects of colonialism which inculcated self-hate and mental oppression in Africa. The paper argues that it is due to the history of colonial rule which subjected the oppressed and exploited to inhumanity and self-hate; that there is a culture of violence and lack of respect to human life in the continent. This is witnessed by the way in which crime has turned so violent. The paper further implores us to re-look at the ideologization of Blackness and Whiteness in the context of Steven Bantu Biko and Franz Fanon in order to locate the root causes and effects of mental oppression and the feelings of inferiority complexes exhibited by the subaltern (in the Gramscian sense of the word). The paper argues that it is this feeling of inferiority that propels the denigrated and subjugated masses to violate laws with impunity, such that they are not afraid to commit heinous crimes and gender-based violence, murder and rape on their unsuspecting victims without remorse. The paper utilized a content analysis method as an approach to seek valid contributions in literature, to the understanding of gender-based violence and rampant crime in Africa.

The teaching of mathematics remains one of the most challenging endeavours for the majority of practitioners in mathematics education. The fundamental aspect of teaching mathematics, namely, to teach leaners to do mathematics, places on teachers the responsibility of ensuring that learners be involved in providing more that the answers question posed to them. When a learner of mathematics provides a response of 0 to the sum (+1) + (–1), for instance, what kind of processes has the learner enacted in coming with that answer? More importantly how do teachers explain these processes to the learners? The qualitative study involved a case of three African who were responding on how they could use contexts in the teaching of mathematics. Not only did the teachers resort to the application of rules to respond to the tasks but they could not recognise the opportunities provided by contexts for doing the operation of signed numbers. This paper revisit how teachers could explain the operation of signed numbers using contexts by re-defining the concept of zero and use the latter to do the addition and subtraction of signed numbers.

This study sought to explore strategies of improving primary school teacher trainees’ proficiency in the English language. A qualitative approach and a case study design were preferred for this research. Samples of twenty lecturers were purposively selected, comprising English language lecturers, English Communication Skills lecturers, and lecturers teaching content disciplines. Data were collected through questionnaires and interviews and analysed thematically. Strategies for enhancing the English language proficiency of trainee teachers were suggested, namely the use of a collaborative approach to language teaching, contextualised teaching/learning, the development of oral language skills, the use of learner-centred methodologies, the integration of information and communication technologies into second-language teaching/learning, and enriching the Communication Skills syllabus content. Recommendations for improvement were made to various stakeholders.

China has become a major player in the global politics of the contemporary world. Their emergence as major player in the world is driven by their radical commercial enterprises across many states of the world. This study is on focused on Chines-African relations. The qualitative study which used secondary material found that the diplomatic activities of China in Africa are driven by the quest to institutionalize Chinese capitalism, mineral resource exploitation and economic expansion. The situation is worsened for Africa due to the promotion of globalization of multinational investments, which undermines local African companies while ensuring that African migrants have no easy access to the Euro-American States. The study therefore recommends that African States should encourage high tariffs against Chinese and Euro-American companies in order to revitalize local industries. Again, African states must learn to trade with each other in the areas that they have comparative advantage.

This article examines how Plaatje through his textual representations of both the hero Ra-Thaga and the heroine Mhudi critiques and deconstructs from both the social constructivist perspective and the African feminist perspective the patriarchal paradigm in its consignment of women to subordinated social roles. This in essence denies women an affirming social position. Plaatje presents Mhudi as assuming agency by engaging in a transformative journey in which she steps beyond the domestic sphere into the men’s world and eventually reconfigures a new form of self-fulfilled woman and equal marriage partner. Plaatje’s eponymous heroine is an enduring symbol of the belief in a new day or dispensation. It is also notable that in the novel Mhudi, Plaatje represents the character of the heroine as a rational being striving towards achieving new configurations of women’s identity and social engagement. Thus, Mhudi has been shown by many critics (Willan 1984; Hooper 1992; Thompson 1992; Mpe 1998; Chrisman 1997 and 2000) to be ahead of its time in terms of its treatment of women and that there is a progressive portrayal of Batswana womanhood in particular. This portrayal represents not only a new view of Batswana womanhood but also a new norm of equality. The portrayal of Mhudi represents a woman shouldering the responsibility of charting the course of female emancipation (Fonchingong, 2006:45). In Mhudi, Plaatje offers realistic and socially conscious critiques of existing gender relations and roles between men and women. Plaatje advocates the view that patriarchy “is a system fashioned out as a grand design to trample upon women” (Nwagbara, 2009). Plaatje’s text, in its representation of the heroine, suggests that there be new configurations of women’s identity and practices which will translate inthe reconfiguration of womanhood by prioritizing female individualism and empowerment.

The media remains very active in determining the nature and dynamics of politics across the globe. In Africa, the media have been effective in unfolding the strengths and weaknesses of every political administration. This qualitative study focuses on the role of the media in assessing the political behaviours of Nigerian and South African presidents, with special focus on former presidents Jonathan of Nigeria and Zuma of South Africa. The study found that both presidents were accused of corruption and alliance with their friends to undermine nation building processes in their respective countries. However, sexual accusation, state capture and the Nkandlagate scandal were central in the media reportage on the administration of Zuma, while the media transmitted the secret letter from former president Olusegun Obasanjo to Goodluck Jonathan; where he accused him of placing politicians on watch list. The findings of this study strengthen media system dependency theory as well as the agenda setting role of the media in nation building processes of the two strongest economies in Africa. The study therefore recommends increased investigative and developmental journalism that will strengthen the quality of democratic governance in Africa.

Following the country's independence in 1980, misgivings of the Cold War and a competing regional neighbourhood, Zimbabwe's foreign policy was formulated in a manner that reflected Marxist principles and neo liberal subscriptions. This pragmatism saw President Mugabe pursue reconciliatory politics with apartheid South Africa and at the same time a Marxist outfit through joining the Front Line States and the Southern African Coordinating Conference (SADCC).On the surface, this appeared to suggest the country had no clear foreign policy objectives but the undercurrents suggested the politics of a late decoloniser in the context of the Cold War. Harare’s ability to fit well into Southern Africa’s international relations earned her the status ‘African Jewel’. The paper argues that Zimbabwe’s foreign policy making in the first decade of the country’s independence was the brain child of the Chimurenga legacy and President Mugabe at the centre of decision making

On the 15th of November 2017, the world woke up to what has been referred to as ‘a smart coup’ which led to the resignation of Zimbabwe’s longtime leader Robert Mugabe. The architects of the smart coup, the Zimbabwe Defense Forces, long time ‘subtle’ stockholders of nationalist politics, constructed a narrative that this was not a coup but rather an operation to restore legacy. By code naming the operation as ‘Operation Restore Legacy,’ the soldiers were absolving themselves from direct involvement in politics and at the same time constructing a narrative which appeared to be an effort to safeguard the gains of the liberation struggle and the legacy of the then President Robert Mugabe. In this regard, the paper argues that a common approach to the study of nationalist politics and political parties, such as ZANU-PF, is to locate them within the use of narratives. It is in this argument that the paper tries to locate the events of 15 November 2017 as a culmination of competing narratives in ZANU-PF. That is to say, Operation Restore Legacy should be assessed as a political myth constructed by Emmerson Mnangagwa in his long journey to wrestle power from former President Robert Mugabe. Consequently, the study with the use of familiar texts and literature available on Zimbabwean politics locates this as part of the long contestation for power between the incumbent, Emmerson Mnangagwa and his former boss.

This paper articulates for the purpose of an explicit analysis and discussion the physical, cognitive, affective and social performance based on the functional capacity of grandparents in mitigating the challenges experienced by children orphaned by HIV and AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. The exposition was positioned against the background of the well acclaimed decline in HIV and AIDS figures attributable to the global scale-up of antiretroviral therapy. The analysis reveals that despite the gains being pandied in the literature, grandparents have continued to perform actively in mitigating the challenges faced by children orphaned by the epidemic. Based on this revelation, the paper concludes by making some major suggestions for consideration in implementing public and private social development policies and practices that should leverage the often ignored stress that grandparents encounter in the sub-continent.